Tag: play

dad playing with his child

Change the Way You Play and Reduce Power Battles With Your Child

Isn’t play childish? Isn’t it a waste of time? Isn’t play pointless? Patty addresses these three adult biases towards play and then shows you how play can actually help you become closer to your child. Watch and learn why play is a surprising way to turn struggles between you and your child around, and the

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How Your Attention Helps Children Play Together

My twin boys and I had gone away for a couple of days together with a friend and her son, plus two close relatives. I’m not sure where the difficulties came from, but at the start of the trip our children couldn’t play together more than two minutes without it becoming tense. It seemed there was always some

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How to Help Kids Face Their Fears with Play

Halloween might be scare season, but kids get scared even by everyday experiences. The teacher who gives a stern look could mean a child gets anxious about going to school. A trip to the doctors office for shots is never nice, but for some kids equals pure terror. Another child in the park calling your son

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Helping My Son Connect With My New Partner

I’ve done years of wrestling with my boy, so it’s a well worn connection groove for releasing tension and rebuilding connection between us. This day we were both in fine form. I think he started it by putting a handful of sand down my pants, so once I’d emptied it out, the chase was on.

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Giddy’up to Connection

One day I gave my 3 year old daughter a “horsey-ride” on my back. I’d done it many times before and she always enjoyed the closeness and bouncy thrill of the ride. However this day when I took her into the bathroom I was lowering her down and she slipped out of my hands and

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A Lesson From Babies…It’s Okay To Struggle

Last week’s parent/toddler class was all about feeling ‘stuck’. The previous week, 21-month-old Audrey had wedged herself between the bars of the wooden climbing structure and looked at me with a worried expression. “Are you stuck?” I asked. I moved close and — without touching her — talked her through pulling her legs out from

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This Supersize Game Melts Sibling Struggles

Introducing The Great Sumo Play! My most recent fun idea for dissolving sibling struggles between my 6 and 12 year old is (drumroll):  Sumo wrestling shirts! We get two of dad’s big t-shirts, stuff the front and back with bed pillows (2 in front, 1 in back seems to work well) and then, let the wrestling begin!

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What Is Your Child Saying When She Cries?

For the last few weeks my five-year-old hasn’t wanted to play independently. She either wanted to play with a friend or watch a video. We took her to a Hand in Hand Parenting Play Morning where she and I did Special Time. Right after the Special Time, she announced she didn’t want me to be

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